Rita Ora’s “How We Do (Party)” made HitFix’s top 25 2012 Summer Jams list. Will her new tune “Roc the Life” make it into the fall?
The title is a nod to her label home, Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, which obviously hopes to attract a pop crossover crowd combining the rock influence with R&B vocal appeal. I can’t help but to compare the refrain to “Roc the Life” to Nicki Minaj’s “Moment 4 Life,” but then again, Roc Nation/Def Jam is always interested giving Cash Money a run for it’s, well, money. What’s unique about this flirtation with top 40 is the live drum and guitar sounds, which operate outside of the pure, drop-the-bass dance tyranny that seems to have a stranglehold on most other solo female pop musicians on radio right now.
In other words, Pink should have put this one out instead of her wounded-animal single “Blow Me (One Last Kiss).”
“Roc the Life” is the newest single from the 21-year-old singer’s cleverly titled “Ora,” due Aug. 27. Do you hear gold?